Young Women’s Experiences of Health and Well-Being in a Postfeminist Social Media Culture: The MeStories Study Protocol

Abstract

Introduction: To date, there is much controversy in the literature on the impacts of social media use on young women’s health and wellbeing. Alongside the massive popularity of platforms like Instagram and TikTok, the social media culture has become a key mediator of social discourses on health, femininities, bodies, and identities. In contemporary Western societies, the individual pursuit of health is highly valued, related to contemporary forms of governance that emphasize self-regulation, individual responsibility, and individual choice. Furthermore, postfeminist discourses strongly encourage women to engage in constant work on their body, health, and identity. In this context, it is imperative to understand how the contemporary social media culture relates to young women’s health, body, and sense of self. Aims: The overall aim of this study is to understand the role of a new social media culture on narrative constructions of a sense of self among young women in late adolescence, aged 18–20 years old, and, particularly the ways in which such narrative identities relate to experiences and practices involving health and wellbeing. Methods: In this 3-year research we adopt a social constructionist approach in critical health psychology focused on socio-culturally situated practices and meanings involved in the construction of human experience. We adopt a qualitative research approach - consisting of in-depth interviews, focus groups and photo elicitation techniques - with people self-identifying as women. Data analysis will employ both narrative and reflexive thematic analysis. Ethics and dissemination: The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University of Lausanne. Findings will be published in scientific journals, presented at meetings, and will serve for public health and educational purposes. Content in form of flyers and posts will be designed to communicate findings to participants via current social media platforms.